Glutton for punishment

[Nobodynotime]

My oscar has quite a stupid habit which he is being constantly punished for. I have a 6in oscar and a ~7in pike cichlid in an appropriate sized tank to house them both. The oscar will intentionally go into the tube that the pike sits in all day long and either try to push the bigger more aggressive fish out or try and cuddle with him. Either way this annoys the pike to no end and the oscar ends up getting bit rather hard. I dont know what the deal is, its kind of comical to watch but i feel bad for the oscar, they'd get along fine if it weren't for this behavior. Do I have a stupid or just cuddly fish, just wondering if anyone else has seen such behavior.

[teach]

That does sound kinda funny. I hope it doesnt end up hurting your oscar tho.

[Northernguy]

Welcome to the AC!
When the O gets bigger it will get revenge!
Keep an eye on them.I hope they can stay together!

[Nobodynotime]

Thanks for the welcome. They are fun to watch together and I know the oscar will soon out grow the pike, but for now murderface (pikes name) has the run of the joint, he is faster and more aggressive than i could've ever imagined, i guess its kind of fun but kind of a bummer, but what can you do, I wish you could train fish!

[Northernguy]

Keep them well fed!
What do you feed them?
Do you have any pics of them?

[Nobodynotime]

Well funny you ask because another small problem I am having is that the pike will eat nothing but feeder fish. That worries me bc of spreading disease and such, lack of nutrition and price of buying fish (which he will down about 5 at a time) the oscar likes the floating pellets, blood worms and the occasional feeder fish or cricket.
I wish I had a digital camera so I could share a few pics, maybe w/ my christmas cash. haha

[Wild Turkey]

Try some garlic scent, it usually will get fish to eat stuff they normally wouldnt pay any mind to. Gotta get him off the feeders asap, that will help with aggression also, so i wouldnt give the oscar any either, stick to the crickets if you want to feed him live food as a treat. all live foods are said to increase agression, but nothing does it like feeder fish, and like you said theres a chance of introducing disease.

[Northernguy]

Try some garlic scent, it usually will get fish to eat stuff they normally wouldnt pay any mind to. Gotta get him off the feeders asap, that will help with aggression also, so i wouldnt give the oscar any either, stick to the crickets if you want to feed him live food as a treat. all live foods are said to increase agression, but nothing does it like feeder fish, and like you said theres a chance of introducing disease.

Well said!Feeders are a good treat but not a good source of food in an aquarium.They may live off them in the wild but thats a completely different world!
Roll some pellts around in minced garlic and see if it eats.
It could also be the brand of food you are using.Try Hikari or NLS brands.It may make a difference!
Good Luck and get a camera soon!

[Nobodynotime]

Hmm maybe I can try taking pic w my cell phone. Im a genius! I will post in a few

[Nobodynotime]

Bad Quality I wish you could see the pink/red on the pikes dorsal(?) fin. He's quite a beautiful fish!

The exact behavior I was talking about!

Oscar's trying to cuddle with Murderface and he wants no part of it.